Have never been that big of an U2 fan, but cannot deny the fact that Larry Mullen has an outstanding ear for music and has had helped take U2 to the top of the game. The Joshua Tree, well one of the best rock and inspirational records of all time . I was able to catch the making of it on vh1 classic this month and it is a great look into how Larry contributes so much to their overall sound,

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"Music is the lifeforce of all musicians, relish your talent"

I saw U2 way back when they were on the War tour. It was a really good show.

I respect any band that can reinvent themselves as often as U2 has. I also respect a band that can stay together that long.

I don't know about all the controversy on this thread about Bono. Bono lives in a very individual world where he is incredibly famous. I've never lived through that kind of fame. I can't imagine what sort of pressures he deals with each day. I heard the reason he wears his shades is so that he can separate himself in some way from the general public. I can't say I blame him.

As for Larry's playing? Well, how many hit records has he played drums on? That answers the question as far as I'm concerned.

Larry is often over looked. He is one of the most heard drummers of our time. He's never been fancy but he has created some of the most memorable drum hooks ever. I am a full time drummer. I play in a U2 tribute band in Austin Texas. I never thought about Larry until I joined this band. Once I started to pay attention I realized how great he really is. Here are a few pics of my band and my setup..

I started to learn the drums when I was 5 years old. I found it so boring having to listen to parididles (Probably spelt wrong) and stuff like that, but when I was about 11, I started to listen to U2 and Larry Mullen's Drumming on "Rejoice" immediately made me start to play the drums in a new way altogether. I stopped learning theory and more worked on "feel" which is all what Larry Mullen's Drumming is all about. So much emotion in his drumming, Anyone agree? ALSO check out "Fire" (Great snare work) and Pride (Everyone should learn this song)

And as for the new album (How to Dismantle..) I was disgusted at the level of Larry's Drums in the mix, why ??? "Original of the Species" great track until the chorus comes in and all you can hear is guitar and strings!, you can just about hear the ride cymbal!

Last edited by aaronwhooley; 04-08-2007 at 09:10 PM.
Reason: more to add

I started to learn the drums when I was 5 years old. I found it so boring having to listen to parididles (Probably spelt wrong) and stuff like that, but when I was about 11, I started to listen to U2 and Larry Mullen's Drumming on "Rejoice" immediately made me start to play the drums in a new way altogether. I stopped learning theory and more worked on "feel" which is all what Larry Mullen's Drumming is all about. So much emotion in his drumming, Anyone agree? ALSO check out "Fire" (Great snare work) and Pride (Everyone should learn this song)

And as for the new album (How to Dismantle..) I was disgusted at the level of Larry's Drums in the mix, why ??? "Original of the Species" great track until the chorus comes in and all you can hear is guitar and strings!, you can just about hear the ride cymbal!

I totally agree with you man. He's the reason why I began to play the drums in an altogether new way too. His early career of when he began to play the drums is almost identical to mine in every way. He plays for the music so tastefully which is the reason why he's my favorite. And you're right, you can barely make out the drums in the new album except for the high energy songs like Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights, Crumbs from your Table. I don't know why that is, and it's too bad that it is the way it is, but I still love the tracks. I think their last album, HTDAAB, is pretty good. Some good quality songs like "Sometimes you can't make it on your own", "Crumbs from your table", "City of Blinding Lights", and "Original of the Species" are what makes is a good album...better than "All that you can't leave behind" in my opinion. I would say the album that Larry Mullen Jr. is best on, is either "Joshua Tree" or "Achtung Baby". Those two albums were amazing, but albums like "Boy", "October" were excellent too. Hell, everything of his is amazing!

Larry Mullen's a total punk drummer (that's right U2's a punk band, in case you didn't know). super good. Unforgettable Fire. he's brilliant. and so self-effacing he put's Peart to shame.

Hye Matt,
Larry Mullen is a great drummer, but come on bro. Go to YouTube if you want to bash Peart. Larry Mullen DOES NOT put Peart to shame. I don't care who's opinion it is. Peart is a true innovator and should be respected as such.

Hye Matt,
Larry Mullen is a great drummer, but come on bro. Go to YouTube if you want to bash Peart. Larry Mullen DOES NOT put Peart to shame. I don't care who's opinion it is. Peart is a true innovator and should be respected as such.

ha ha! i wasn't bashing Peart's drumming abilities. I paraphrase myself: "Mullen is so very self-effacing (meaning he verbalizes his belief that he is not that good) and therefore puts Peart to shame. (Peart also is self-effacing and has continually put himself under the likes of Stewart Copeland). What I meant is that Mullen is so much more self-effacing that he puts Peart's self-effacing to shame. it's sort of a joke. I've seen Rush every tour since 1988 and I'm well aware of how good Peart is. i wasn't commenting on technique or innovation or reputation or ability . . . i was merely pointing out that Mullen is SUPER humble. thanks though.

some of that drumming on Unforgettable fire came out of what Bill Bruford was doing with King Crimson at the time. Crimson is another big punk rock band.:)

yup. and the Clash was doing some stuff that Grand Master Flash was doing. Grandmaster Flash: total punk band. Or the Clash: total rap band. ha ha! Seriously. Those guys started out as a full on punk band. Just because it doesn't sound punk doesn't mean it isn't. Perhaps a bit New Wave? (and certainly got a little Folkish on Joshua Tree) but New Wave was born out of? and we all know about Shane MacGowan, right? Listen to Give Em Enough Rope, Sandanista or Combat Rock for that matter. Ya ya I love the Clash. oh ya and UP with Stiff Little Fingers. Now those guys were an Irish punk band!

yup. and the Clash was doing some stuff that Grand Master Flash was doing. Grandmaster Flash: total punk band. Or the Clash: total rap band. ha ha! Seriously. Those guys started out as a full on punk band. Just because it doesn't sound punk doesn't mean it isn't. Perhaps a bit New Wave? (and certainly got a little Folkish on Joshua Tree) but New Wave was born out of? and we all know about Shane MacGowan, right? Listen to Give Em Enough Rope, Sandanista or Combat Rock for that matter. Ya ya I love the Clash. oh ya and UP with Stiff Little Fingers. Now those guys were an Irish punk band!

I am a fan of U2 since 15-20 years when my sisters gave me the idea to buy the 'Archtung Baby' album.
Since this date, I am a big fan of U2 and I had listen more than 100 times all the songs from this album.
I was 12 or 13 years old when I discover this group. I remember the black and white picture inside the book of the CD where the group was playing / recording...

Now I am almost 30 and I love listen to u2 songs. I was also in the Vertigo concert in Paris and I enjoy it. I think my favorites songs are: 'Stay', 'with or without you', 'where the steets have no name' and 'Pride'.

This year I started to play drums and of course I try to follow the beat of Larry... that's why I am posting in this forum. I have read all the messages for this thread, and I share your opinion: Larry is not the best drummer but u2 without him, would not exist or will be very different... and for my point of view I like how he is playing.

I started to work on Stay, Heartland, Angel of Harlem and New Year's day. Now I am working on Pride.

I worked a little bit to get what Larry is using: I know Larrys drumsticks are ProMark Japan Oak 5a.

--People say "Why don't you do interviews? What do you think about this? What do you think about that?" My job in the band is to play drums, to get up on stage and hold the band together. That's what I do. At the end of the day that's all that's important. Everything else is irrelevant.
Larry Mullen Jr.
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There was an article in a recent modern drummer magazine about why we love Larry Mullen Jr.

I thought the article missed the point though.

It's not that Larry played simple parts for" the sake of the song", or played inventive parts.

Larry played rhythmic hooks. He didn't just play a beat for 8 bars and then a fill at the end, he played "parts" that repeated and become intrinsic parts of the song that carried the song just as much as the guitar riff.

"I Will Follow' isn't just a simple beat and fill, it's an 4 bar cycle that repeats as much as the guitar riff and becomes just as much of why the song gets stuck in your head as the guitar riff. All through those early albums, he did these things that were so much bigger than just beat & fills, he wrote hooks that captured the ear.

When I was younger, he was right up there on my wall with my Neil Peart poster collection.

Larry Mullen Jr., is a drummer who plays and dedicates an odd feel for the song, back and forth but catchy. I still listen to "October" not a commercial album but quite original...War, Rattle & Hum, The Joshua Tree, are remarkable.

Larry Mullen Jr., is a drummer who plays and dedicates an odd feel for the song, back and forth but catchy. I still listen to "October" not a commercial album but quite original...War, Rattle & Hum, The Joshua Tree, are remarkable.

October is a great album.

I really love his playing the early U2 albums, and the way he would write rhythmic hooks rather than just "beat into fill".